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There are more students in our Montgomery County Public Schools who are eligible for free and reduced meals than there are students in the entire District of Columbia Public Schools system.
Source: County Executive of Montgomery County, MD, Ike Leggett, in "An Open Letter to Funders in the Region," February 28, 2011
- Just 11 percent of these students [low-income, first-generation-to-college] earn a bachelor's degree after six years, according to the Pell Institute, compared with 55% of their peers.
Source: Jennings, Dana, A Second Home for First-Gens. New York Times, 26 July 2009
- If the SAT were a 100-yard dash, advantaged kids would start off 65 yards ahead before the race even began.
Source: Kahlenberg, Richard D. (May 23, 2010) The Washington Post: Five myths about college admissions.
- The transition to college has a component of culture shock for students, one that is more severe for students from some communities than others.
Source: Conley, D. T. (2007). Toward a more comprehensive conception of college readiness. Eugene, OR: Educational Policy Improvement Center.
- The United States once had the highest graduation rate of any nation. Now it stands 10th
Studies show that more and more poor and nonwhite students aspire to graduate from college but their graduation rates fall far short of their dreams.
Source: Thomas, Evan and Wingert, Pat (March 1, 2010) Newsweek: Minority Report
- There are actually two Montgomery Counties separated by socioeconomics. [It is the second, less affluent population comprising 43% of MCPS students that CDI serves.]
Source: MCPS Superintendent, Jerry Weast, in an interview on NPR's Kojo Nnamdi Show, February 10, 2009
- 29% of first generation students enroll in postsecondary education immediately after high school, compared to 73% of students who have at least one parent with a bachelor’s degree.
Source: The National Center for Education Statistics, 2005 study
A Student's First College Assignment: Grasping Financial Aid, Eric Hoover, The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 9, 2010
Simplifying the college aid maze, Nina Marks, The Washington Post, April 16, 2010
Student Loan Overhaul, Nina Marks on National Public Radio's The Diane Rehm Show, March 30, 2010
A Second Home for First-Gens, Dana Jennings, New York Times, 26 July 2009
Education Emergency, E.J. Dionne Jr., The Washington Post, July 15, 2009
Montgomery County Public School Superintendent Jerry Weast, on National Public Radio’s Kojo Nnamdi Show, February 10, 2009
Achievement Trap: How America Is Failing Millions of High-Achieving Students from Lower-Income Families, A report by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation & Civic Enterprises with original research by Westat, by Joshua S. Wyner, John M. Bridgeland, & John J. Dilulio, Jr. (Posted, in downloadable PDF, here with the kind permission of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.)
A Fair Path to College, Nina Marks, The Washington Post, May 9, 2007
Pillars of Cultural Capital, David Brooks, New York Times October 6, 2005
The Education Gap, David Brooks, New York Times, September 25, 2005
